About Me

When not nosing, tasting, drinking and reading about malt whisky, I own one of Israel's premiere boutique coaching practices, specializing in small businesses and executive teams.
Trained in the law, I was an international law attorney and took part in Israel's peace negotiations with the Palestinians, as well as representing my country at the UN for parts of the negotiations on the implementation of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Later I was appointed to the military bench.
My favorite thing, other than whisky, is teaching.
You can contact me through the social media buttons above or by email: michael(at)maltandoak.com, replacing the (at) with an @.

Statement of Integrity and Guidelines

Malt and Oak is an independent whisky blog, offering my own views, opinions and news from the world of malt whisky.
These are my guidelines:

1. All whisky reviews published are of whiskies I have personally tasted and noted. Guest bloggers only write about their own personal tastings.

2. With the exception of official whisky samples, I accept no consideration whatsoever from any distillery, bottler, distributor, drink company or store for my opinions.

3. I maintain strict impartiality and objectivity in tasting all whiskies, not least when tasting official samples. Any review of official whisky samples sent to me will be so noted in the post.

4. I will accept invitations to tastings, events and official visits, and full disclosure will be made on any tasting notes and articles resulting from these events or visits.

5. Any sample received over 30 ml in volume is shared with fellow whisky bloggers. In any event, no sample larger than 100 ml will be accepted.

6. No advertisements promoting specific brands will be accepted.

7. I will answer any inquiry by my readers as quickly and as fully as possible.

8. Should I give a link purchase the reviewed whisky, it will be given free of any commercial interest. The link given will always point to cheapest selling price I found on the web. No commission is paid, nor any other consideration given, for such link.

9. As of July 2017, I serve as Douglas Laing’s Israel brand ambassasdor. As such, I will obviously not be posting reviews of Douglas Laing products.

Like Thor and Freya, who got days named in their honor, Odin was known in Old English as Wōden, and got Wednesday named in his honor, so this review being posted on his day, is quite appropriate.

Odin – ruler of Valhalla, the hall of dead warriors, and father of Loki and Thor – is the Norse god of healing and death, of royalty and of sorcery. It seems like Highland Park chose to try and put out a whisky that conveys the royalty with a full blown Oloroso sherry bomb. They succeeded in putting out a sherry bomb, but sadly, did not quite convey that royal feeling they were going for. Mind you, this is not half bad whisky, but it won’t blow your mind.

Appearance: Copper, thin and very slow legs, with droplets lazily rolling off a necklace with a lot of residue.

Nose: Almost textbook Oloroso sherry matured whisky. Sweet dried fruit notes with sultanas, dried apricots and peaches, and a hint of chocolate. You’ll also get balsamic vinegar, cinnamon and a dusty sweetness. After some time in the glass, demerara sugar appears.

Palate: Sweet and full of dried fruit (prunes are noticeable) and some wood spices (nutmeg). Palate is thick and viscous, dusty and dry. The first thought that popped into my mind is a slightly older A’bunadh.

Linger: Medium and sweet with cinnamon on the tongue and a sweet sherry sourness lingering on the tongue. The inside of the cheeks are slightly dry, and sultanas make an appearance on the tongue.

Conclusion

Pretty much what you’d expect of an Aberlour A’Bunadh if it were matured for a few more years. This is a fine Oloroso sherry bomb, but the £180 price tag is borderline on the value for money.